Arthur and Binky: The Quarrel between Friends
by Mina-Prower
Summary: After a quarrel in P.E. class, Binky has lost all three recesses the following day for bullying Arthur. Arthur's parents console him, and Binky is sure he might not have fun anymore. Is it possible for the two to stop being friends or will they make up?


**Arthur and Binky: The Quarrel between Friends**

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or content from _Arthur_. The characters and etc. from _Arthur_ belong to Marc Brown, PBS, WGBH, and Cookie Jar (formerly CINAR).

One Thursday afternoon at Lakewood Elementary School, Mr. Ratburn's class went to P.E. in the school gym. There was Coach Grimslid who was wearing a white T-shirt, black gym shorts, and gray and white tennis shoes. Arthur and his classmates then stood in a side-by-side line. It was time for warm-ups, and Miss Grimslid would blow the whistle when it was time to start. First, the kids were running across the gym and back ten times. Then they did ten push-ups. Then they did ten sit-ups. Then they did ten jumping jacks. Then they ran ten laps around the gym.

After all the warm-ups, Miss Grimslid was getting ready to set up the volleyball net. Arthur and Francine helped her out. The net was adjusted to three feet above the floor. They were going to play a game where they play volleyball while riding on small square carts that had four wheels on them. Miss Grimslid then inflated the beach ball that was colored orange, blue, lavender, and white. She then called out to the kids which team they were on. The 1's were Arthur, Francine, the Brain, Sue Ellen, Jenna, and a few others. The 2's were Buster, Muffy, Binky, Fern, George, and a few others. Binky was upset that he and Arthur were not on the same team.

After the students were being called teams, they walked over to a large crate that had those small carts that the students could sit on and pedal on the floor using their feet. Then the students walked over to each side of the net, depending on the team they were called. Team 1 was on the left side of the gym and Team 2 was on the right side of the gym.

Miss Grimslid then tossed the ball to Arthur and walked over to the small table with a scoring stand. On the left were red scoring flags for Team 1 and on the right were blue scoring flags for Team 2.

As Arthur was holding the ball, Miss Grimslid then blew the whistle to start the game. After Miss Grimslid blew the whistle, Arthur threw the ball up in the air and bat it with his open hand, and flew over the net. Everyone was moving on their carts. Buster then pedaled back a few steps and returned the ball. Then Francine returned the ball. Binky then tried to return the ball, but it was spinning backwards and hit the net. Arthur's team then cheered.

Miss Grimslid then flipped the flag for Team 1 and the score was 1-0.

Binky then picked up the ball and threw it up in the air and bat it over to Team 1. Sue Ellen then returned the ball, and then Fern returned the ball, and then the Brain returned the ball, and then Muffy returned the ball, and then a gray rabbit boy then tried to return the ball, but it hit the net. Binky's team then cheered.

Miss Grimslid then flipped the flag for Team 2 and the score was 1-1.

Later on, the score was 24-12. Binky was sure not going to like it. Then at the end, the score went 26-13. Arthur's team then cheered by chanting, "We won!". Binky became very furious and stomped his feet.

P.E. was over. The kids then stood up and picked up the carts and put them back in the crate. Miss Grimslid then started to deflate the ball. Binky then grit his teeth and locked his fingers. As they were about to leave the gym, Binky then walked behind Arthur, and then quick as a flash, he punched Arthur on the back, and then Arthur fell on his hands and knees to the floor with a big thud. Everyone gasped.

"Binky!" warned Francine. "Now, look what you've done!"

Arthur's face turned bright red and then he broke into tears.

"Oh, my goodness!" said Miss Grimslid, watching the incident a short distance away.

"You see, Binky?" said Francine. "That was very mean! How dare you hurt poor Arthur!"

"Francine's right," Buster said to Binky. "You owe my best friend an apology!"

"He's such a big baby and a cheater," taunted Binky.

"That's not nice, Binky!" warned Francine. "We're telling Mr. Ratburn and you're going to have to see Mr. Haney right away."

"WHAT?" complained Binky.

"Yeah, big bully!" sobbed Arthur, looking at Binky. "That really hurt!"

Arthur then stood up and tried to hold back tears. At the door stood Mr. Ratburn.

"You know you shouldn't have hurt a friend I've been helping a lot," the Brain said to Binky.

Right away, Francine ran to tell Mr. Ratburn.

"Mr. Ratburn, Binky hit Arthur!" reported Francine.

"Oh, I'll have to deal with them," said Mr. Ratburn.

Mr. Ratburn then walked over to Arthur and Binky.

"Binky, Arthur, I want you guys to go to Mr. Haney's office, right now!" said Mr. Ratburn. "And for the rest of you kids, you may return to my classroom."

As Mr. Ratburn's class was leaving the gym, Miss Grimslid followed along. Arthur, Binky, Mr. Ratburn, and Miss Grimslid headed to Mr. Haney's office and the rest of the students returned to Mr. Ratburn's classroom.

As the four walked into the office, Mr. Ratburn told Mr. Haney about the incident.

"Arthur, Binky, have a seat, both of you," said Mr. Haney.

Mr. Ratburn and Miss Grimslid slid the chairs from the walls and into the middle of the room to face Mr. Haney's desk. Arthur and Binky sat in the chairs. After the two kids sat down, the teachers looked in disappointment over the incident. Mr. Haney then pulled out the tissue and handed it to Arthur.

"Now, Binky, why did you hit Arthur?" asked Mr. Haney.

"Because he and I should have been on the same team," replied Binky. "And I NEVER ever want to lose, and when he wins while we're on opposite teams, he's being such a cheater."

"Binky, it's not cheating if someone wins," said Miss Grimslid.

"Grimslid's right," said Mr. Haney.

"Whatever!" retorted Binky, stomping his foot.

"And if someone wins or loses," said Mr. Haney, "you don't have the right to hit anyone."

"Who cares?" snapped Binky. "Arthur's just a doofus who wants everything for himself!"

Arthur continued to do some more crying after listening to Binky insult him.

"Binky," warned Mr. Ratburn. "You just hurt Arthur's feelings by saying that."

"Now I would like for you to apologize to Arthur, please," said Mr. Haney.

"I'm sorry," said Binky, a little too nervously.

"Are you certain?" asked Mr. Haney. "Say it like you mean it."

"I'M SORRY!" shouted Binky.

"That's too loud," said Mr. Haney. "Say it nice and friendly."

"I'm sorry," said Binky, almost about to cry.

"Well, there you have it," said Mr. Haney. "Starting tomorrow, you've missed all three recesses."

"ALL THREE RECESSES?" complained Binky, stomping his foot. "But that's not fair!"

"That's what happens when you do something mean to someone," said Mr. Ratburn.

"How will I survive?" complained Binky. "I'LL DIE WITHOUT RECESS!"

"You'll get used to it," said Mr. Ratburn. "You may get it back on Monday if you promise to behave yourself."

"NO!" sobbed Binky. "My friends who hang out on the Jungle Gym will be sad if I'm not out there!"

After Mr. Haney punished Binky, he called Mr. Barnes to dismiss Binky for his rude behavior.

Mr. Ratburn sent Arthur to Nurse Flynn's office. As Arthur entered, she could see the tears coming from Arthur's eyes. Arthur told her about the incident.

After Arthur told Miss Flynn about the incident, he sat down on the chair and Miss Flynn gave him a bag of ice to put on his back and a small cup of water to drink.

Just then Mr. Barnes came to pick up Binky by the front door. Binky then walked out the door and stepped into the car. Off they went home.

"Binky, why would you want to hurt such a friend?" asked Mr. Barnes with a disappointed look on his face.

"But Arthur should have been on my team in P.E., and he was being such a jerk for winning while I was losing," said Binky.

"It doesn't matter which side wins," said Mr. Barnes. "Whichever side wins doesn't give you the right to hit anyone."

"But that's not fair to someone who wants to be a friend," said Binky.

"Enough of this," said Mr. Barnes. "Because you've lost all three recesses tomorrow, this means no TV or going out with friends until on Monday if your behavior straightens up."

Later, as the school bell rang, the kids were leaving to go home. Arthur was still shedding tears and his back still hurt from being punched by Binky. Some of the kids laughed, but it was mostly the Tough Customers.

"Hey, Molly, look at the big baby!" taunted Rattles, pointing his finger to Arthur.

"Oh yeah," said Molly. "Looks like his mommy is going to be tending him a lot."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" screeched Arthur at the Tough Customers. "Maybe you guys are the big babies!"

"NNNNNOOOOOOOO!" yelled the Tough Customers, and then they started running away in a panic.

As Arthur walked out of the building, he walked over to his bike and put his helmet on. He couldn't ride his bike, fearing he could fall off since his back hurt, so he had to walk it instead.

While he was his way home from school, he held both hands on the handlebars while walking down the sidewalks. He tried to hide his face so that others couldn't see him crying, and so that they wouldn't pick on him.

"I want my mommy and daddy!" sobbed Arthur.

Just then, Arthur parked his bike in the garage and took off his helmet. Then he walked into the house. His mother Jane was in the living room cleaning. She could hear Arthur crying.

"What happened?" asked Jane.

"Binky punched me in the back," Arthur explained.

"Oh, that's too bad," said Jane. "Why don't you go relax on the sofa and I'll get you a bag of ice and a glass of water."

Arthur then walked up the stairs and into his room and picked up his blue _Bionic Bunny_ blanket and unfolded it. He then walked downstairs and into the living room.

As he walked into the living room, his father David was sitting on the sofa to relax from all his hard work in his catering business.

"Arthur, what's wrong?" asked David.

"Binky hurt me," Arthur explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," said David. "Have a seat."

Arthur then sat down on the sofa, took off his sneakers, and wrapped himself in his blanket, and then put his legs on his father's lap. Jane then walked into the living room with a bag of ice and a glass of water. Arthur then took off his yellow sweater, unbuttoned and took off his white shirt he wore underneath the sweater, and put them both on his lap, and was wearing his white undershirt with shoulder straps that he was wearing underneath both shirts he took off. Jane then handed Arthur his glass of water and Arthur took a drink of it. When he was finished drinking water, he handed the glass back to Jane, and then David received the bag of ice and put it on Arthur's back and gave Arthur a hug.

Meanwhile, at the Barneses' house, Binky stomped around in his room.

"This is so unfair!" shouted Binky. "No recess? No TV? No computer? No games? No friends? No fun? How will I survive without Rattles or Molly or anyone in particular?"

Binky then took off his shoe and threw it hard on the floor.

At the Reads' house, while David was healing Arthur, he patted Arthur gently on the back with the other hand. Arthur wiped tears from his eyes with his sweater.

"You know, Arthur," said David, "I really love you, and I will always protect you no matter what."

David then kissed Arthur on the forehead, and gave him another hug. The he started singing.

"_Arthur, I love you, you were my only son and I love you, oh you were such a cute baby growing up and all, and now you have a lot of friends, I love you very much,"_ David sang.

David then imagined the times when he and Jane used to rock Arthur in a rocking chair when Arthur was just a little boy.

Back to the present, Arthur lay on the sofa for the next few hours until it was dinnertime.

At dinnertime, Arthur put his white shirt back on and buttoned it up, and then he put his yellow sweater back on, and then stood up from the sofa and put his shoes back on. He then walked into the dining room and his family was eating spaghetti and meatballs. Arthur then sat down to join. Arthur then sniffled, trying to hold back the tears.

"So, tell us what happened when Binky punched you," said David.

"Well, this happened at the end of P.E. class," said Arthur.

"Uh-huh," said Jane.

"Binky became very jealous," explained Arthur, "because he and I were on different teams, and the team I was on won. And when he found out my team won, he went behind my back and punched me hard, and then I fell down on my hands and knees, and it made me cry so hard, I tried to hold back the tears."

Arthur's parents then gasped. D.W. felt sorry to hear about the fight that was going on in school.

"He did, and you fell on your hands and knees?" said David.

"Yes," said Arthur. "And it totally embarrassed me. And then Francine went to go tell on Mr. Ratburn. And then Binky and I had to report to Mr. Haney's office, and then we had to discuss what was going on."

"Uh-huh," said David.

"And when Binky hurt me, that means that he will not have any recess tomorrow," continued Arthur.

"I see," said David. "You know, when I was your age, I had a classmate who once bullied me in P.E. class, and he had to miss recess for a week."

"Yeah," said Arthur. "When a kid is suspended from recess, he or she really learns a hard lesson."

"That's right," said David. "It's no fun to hang around someone who had been acting like a jerk. Besides, most kids at recess don't like to hang around kids who act like jerks."

After dinner, Arthur picked up his _Bionic Bunny_ blanket from the living room and walked upstairs to his room to finish his homework. Before he sat down at his desk to finish his homework, he wrapped his blanket around his abdomen and legs. He was trying to get comfortable while he was doing his homework.

At 9:00, it was time for bed. He changed into his red and blue striped pajamas and crawled into bed with his _Bionic Bunny_ blanket. He took off his glasses and set them on the dresser, then put his dog Pal on the bottom half of the blanket, and then hugged the top half of the blanket.

"I hope things tomorrow will change between Binky and me," whispered Arthur to himself.

As Arthur fell asleep, he then started dreaming. In his dream, he was dressed up like Bionic Bunny and flew to school than to ride on his bike or get a ride to school. As the entered the school building, he saw a very aggressive-looking Binky. As Binky was about to attack him, he flew right behind Binky and punched him down the way Binky did to him for real. Binky fell hard to the floor and started bawling very loudly. Meanwhile, Mr. Ratburn came by and became enraged.

"ARTHUR, GO SEE MR. HANEY, RIGHT NOW!" scolded Mr. Ratburn.

Arthur then gasped after being scolded at Mr. Ratburn.

Arthur then woke up, and it was 3:20 in the morning.

"Bad dream!" whispered Arthur.

Arthur feared that if he retaliated what Binky did, he would be in as much trouble. Arthur then fell back to sleep.

By the time Arthur woke up at sunrise, his back was recovering. He had hoped that Binky wouldn't punch him again.

After Arthur showered and got dressed, he ate _Bionic Bunny_ cereal for breakfast, packed his lunch into his blue _Bionic Bunny_ lunchbox, and then headed to school on his bike.

As Arthur reached the school, he walked into the building and was trying to avoid Binky, whom he feared would punch him again.

Arthur then walked into the classroom in such a big hurry and sat in his desk right next to Francine's and on the opposite side of Buster's. Muffy's desk was right next to Buster's and on the opposite side of Francine's. Binky then walked into the classroom in a very unhappy mood and sat in his desk right next to the Brain's and on the opposite side of George's. Jenna's desk was right next to George's and on the opposite side of the Brain's. Of course, with Binky being unhappy, and because of what he did the day before, he knew it meant that he would not have recess all day.

A few hours later, it was time for recess. Everyone in Mr. Ratburn's class went to recess, except for Binky. While the rest of the class was in line to leave the classroom to go to recess, Mr. Ratburn had something important to say to Binky.

"Binky, stay at your desk, put your head down, and don't leave this room," said Mr. Ratburn. "If you leave this room, you will lose recess on Monday."

After Mr. Ratburn talked to Binky, the bell rang for recess to start. Mr. Ratburn then opened his classroom door and then he and all of the students in line walked out of the classroom, and then walked down the halls and out the back door of the school. All of the other classes followed along to go outside for recess.

As the students and teachers walked outside, the students cheered and ran to different places to play.

Inside Mr. Ratburn's classroom, Binky felt very unhappy and lonely that he didn't get to go outside to recess. He then stood up from his desk and then lay on his stomach on the floor and started throwing a tantrum.

Outside, Binky's members of the Tough Customers: Rattles, Molly, and some others were out on the jungle gym. They also felt lonesome without him there.

"It's not like Binky to not hang out here with us," said Rattles.

"I feel sorry he's not here," said Molly.

"He's our leader of the group, and it's so embarrassing he's not around here," said Rattles.

"Where do you suppose Binky might be?" asked Molly.

"I don't know," said Rattles. "Maybe we could look around before recess is over. But if it's over already and we haven't found him, then we're toast."

Just then, the Tough Customers left the jungle gym and started searching for Binky around the back of the school. They looked everywhere around, but they couldn't find Binky anyplace.

After ten minutes of recess, the school bell rang and all of the students had to stay off of the playground equipment and not move for a while.

"Students, freeze!" called Mr. Ratburn.

In the next few seconds, Mr. Ratburn blew the whistle.

The students then walked up to the door and formed a line for each class they were in. The teachers all were standing in front of their own lines, looking at their students. Then the students from different classes walked back inside.

All of the students from Mr. Ratburn's class walked back into the classroom and found Binky sitting at his desk, red-faced, and teary.

"Binky, there's nothing to cry about," said Mr. Ratburn.

"But it's boring that I don't go outside for recess," said Binky. "Rattles and Molly and the others aren't having fun without me."

"Binky, it's not about your friends," said Mr. Ratburn. "And I don't want to hear you whining about losing recess. You know you shouldn't have hurt people from happened yesterday. Now stop thinking about recess, or you'll lose recess on Monday."

Later, at lunch, Binky sat with his group: the Tough Customers.

"Binky, why weren't you outside at recess?" asked Molly, taking a bite of her apple.

Binky was not too precise how to explain.

"Well, Mr. Ratburn won't let me go out to recess…" Binky tried to explain.

"He wouldn't?" Molly asked. "Why so?"

"I don't know," said Binky. "He just chose not to let me go out for recess."

After lunch, everyone went outside for recess, except for Binky. The members of the Tough Customers were still worried about Binky. Binky still had to stay inside during recess. Arthur and Francine were on the see-saw. Muffy and Prunella were on the swings.

The next recess, Binky still had to stay inside. After Binky lost all three recesses that day, he then felt embarrassed about what he did to Arthur from the day before, and then admitted that he would not hurt Arthur anymore if they were on different teams during P.E. and that the team Arthur was on would win.

Later during the school day, Mr. Ratburn's class went to Art class where Miss Bryan was teaching. During art class, Miss Bryan was showing the students how to draw a linear perspective of a room in a building. She held the paper directly on the board, then put a ruler on the paper, and started drawing the lines for each ruler position, and erased some unnecessary lines. She also told the class that the picture could depict of a bedroom, living room, dining room, and such.

After Miss Bryan demonstrated, she passed out the papers to all of the students. The students took pencils and rulers out of their pencil boxes, and started drawing on their papers. Arthur was going to draw his family's living room, Francine was going to draw her and Catherine's bedroom they both shared, Buster was going to draw the dining room at his condo, Muffy was going to draw her really huge and fancy bedroom, the Brain was going to draw his bedroom, Sue Ellen was going to draw a martial arts training room, and Fern was going to draw an office room. Binky struggled to think of what to draw. He spaced off for three minutes until he decided to draw a picture of a gymnasium.

Later after school, Arthur and his friends got on their bikes and headed for home.

As Arthur came home from school, he walked upstairs and to his room. Then he picked up his _Bionic Bunny_ blanket, wrapped himself, and sat down on at his desk just to get comfortable. Arthur then started sobbing quietly, wishing things would go back to normal for him and Binky.

As Jane walked up the stairs, she could hear a loud thud coming from Arthur's room. She opened the door to Arthur's room, and there was Arthur in his blanket, lying half-asleep on the floor right next to his desk. He had just fallen out of the chair. Arthur continued to cry.

"What's wrong, honey?" asked Jane.

"I was just waiting for things to go back to normal between Binky and me," said Arthur, trying to hold back the tears.

"It's okay, Arthur," said Jane. "I know how you feel over what happened between you and Binky."

Arthur sniffled and shed another tear. The he wiped the tears with his blanket.

"I hope things change," said Arthur.

"Well, why don't you come downstairs and take a nap?" asked Jane.

"Okay," said Arthur.

Arthur and Jane then walked downstairs and into the living room. D.W. was sitting on the floor coloring pictures in one of her _Mary Moo Cow_ coloring books. Jane then sat back down at the computer to continue working on her taxes and Arthur then sat on the sofa, took off his shoes, and then lay on the sofa. Arthur then picked up the remote that was on the armrest, and changed the channel to watch _Bionic Bunny_.

When Arthur started watching that show, D.W. walked to the other living room along with the coloring book and crayons.

"Arthur, turn it down!" said Jane.

The volume was at normal like he usually watches the show if his parents are not in the living room. Arthur then turned down the volume, so that Jane could pay attention to her taxes, and not get distracted by the TV.

After Arthur watched _Bionic Bunny_, he then turned off the TV and closed his eyes and dozed to sleep.

In the next few hours, Arthur and his family went out to eat pizza. As the Reads were seated at a table, Rubella, Prunella, Francine, and Muffy were sitting at another table just about to order.

The Reads received menus from one of the waiters. They all knew exactly what to order. For the beverages, Arthur ordered lemonade, D.W. ordered strawberry lemonade, and the parents just wanted water. Kate was just drinking juice from her own sippy cup. And for the food, they all ordered a family size pepperoni pizza and breadsticks, and they ordered mozzarella sticks for what they can eat before the pizza arrives.

At the table where Rubella and the other three girls were sitting at, they were just receiving their beverages: cherry soda for Rubella, a clear soda drink for Prunella, cherry lemonade for Francine, and a grape soda for Muffy.

In the next few minutes, the Reads received a basket of mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce. There were eight mozzarella sticks, so they each took one, and gave one to Kate. There were three sticks left, so Arthur ate two of the remaining ones, and D.W. ate only one of the three.

Five minutes later, the Reads received a large stone of pizza that was round and had sixteen slices, and a basket with ten breadsticks and marinara sauce. The family then started eating.

At table with four of the girls, they received a pizza with sixteen slices and a basket of ten breadsticks with sauce. And then they started eating.

After dinner, the Reads went home. After the Reads went home, Rubella dropped off Muffy back to her mansion, and then she dropped off Francine back to her apartment, and then she and Prunella came home.

As the Reads came home, Arthur went to his room to finish his homework. He kept himself wrapped in his blanket while he was working.

In the next few days on Monday, things were just about to change for Arthur and Binky.

"I'm really sorry I got mad at you at P.E.," said Binky.

"Oh, that's all right," said Arthur.

"And, whoever wins and whichever side we're on, let's not be jealous," said Binky.

"I hope you're right," said Arthur.

Arthur and Binky both shed a tear from their eyes and shook each other's hands, and smiled. They don't ever want to start a fight anymore.

The next day in P.E. class, Mr. Ratburn's class was playing kickball for fun. Binky was now on Arthur's team. Francine, Sue Ellen, and the Brain were on the same team Arthur and Binky were both on.

At the end of P.E., the team that Arthur and Binky were on won 16-9.

After all, things were finally back to normal for Arthur and Binky. If they were on different teams and either one of them won, they agreed not to get in a fight over who wins, since the games in P.E. were just for fun.

Even though Binky and Arthur were friends sometimes, Binky usually would hang out with his own club, and Arthur usually would spend more time with Buster, Francine, and his other friends.

**THE END**


End file.
